


reboot

by DesertLily



Series: October Fics 2020 [23]
Category: The Bifrost Incident - The Mechanisms (Album), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Ashes has the brain cell, Author is epileptic, Cuddling, Disassociation, Epilepsy, Epileptic Lyfrassir Edda, Hurt/Comfort, Immortal Lyfrassir Edda, Jonny has Actual Emotions, Lyf does not use a single brain cell, Lyf is a little out of it when they wake up, Lyfrassir Edda Joins the Mechanisms, Multi, Polyamorous Mechanisms (The Mechanisms), Seizure, The other Mechs aren't mentioned by name but they're in the background, They/Them Pronouns for Lyfrassir Edda, Violins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27074569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertLily/pseuds/DesertLily
Summary: The Mechanisms liked to think Lyfrassir trusted them and that they trusted Lyfrassir. They kept very few serious secrets from each other. As such, everyone is extremely thrown off when the former inspector has a seizure.
Relationships: Ashes O'Reilly/Lyfrassir Edda, Jonny d'Ville/Lyfrassir Edda, Lyfrassir Edda/Everyone, Lyfrassir Edda/Gunpowder Tim, Lyfrassir Edda/Marius von Raum, polymechs
Series: October Fics 2020 [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946299
Comments: 6
Kudos: 131





	reboot

**Author's Note:**

> This is literally just me being extremely self-indulgent because I'm a dumb epileptic that wishes to project

In Lyfrassir’s defence, they were in fact a diagnosed idiot ( at least, that’s what Raphaella had oh-so-helpfully informed them). Hindsight was a terrible thing - particularly when it involved realising that  _ maybe _ you should have told your copious amount of partners that your body had the occasional habit of shutting down like a computer and spasming frantically. Though, in their defence, the Mechanisms had rescued them shortly after their entire star system was consumed by an outer god.  _ There were a lot of things Lyf had forgotten to mention _ . Their epilepsy happened to be one of them. 

In some ways, their epilepsy was a big deal. In other ways, it wasn’t. Whilst it was  _ definitely _ a big deal that they had seizures, they had been having them since they were a child. They had almost become a regular part of Lyfrassir’s life at this point - even if they were notoriously sporadic. There were never any direct warning signs but Lyf had long since learnt to deal with them. Their family were aware. Their coworkers were aware. Their friends were aware. And really, who else needed to know? If a seizure happened when they were on their own, it wasn’t pleasant by any means but they still coped. Their epilepsy was still something private. It was by no means the sort of information they would divulge to a group of prisoners that refused to age. 

Marius von Raum, Raphaella la Cognizi, and Ivy Alexandria were  _ infuriating _ . They all clearly knew more than they would ever let on. They were loud,  _ musical _ , and stubbornly refused to cooperate with anyone other than Inspector Lyfrassir Edda. It seemed they had a fondness for Lyf. Unfortunately, it wasn’t reciprocated. At least that was what they kept telling themself. They were prisoners; criminals even! Lyfrassir was smarter than getting attached! Yet there was always a small degree of fondness whenever they attempted any kind of humour or the many times Lyf had to confiscate Von Raum’s violin (they weren’t entirely sure how he kept getting it back). 

Naturally, Lyfrassir had had more than a few seizures during the work week. Each one was followed by them calling in sick for a few days. That always seemed to cause their  _ favourite _ prisoners some degree of concern. The trio didn’t like the prospect of something happening to  _ their inspector _ . Lyf had frozen up entirely the first time La Cognizi used the phrase. They pretended that it didn’t cause their heart to skip a beat. But it wasn’t enough for Lyfrassir to divulge their medical history to them. Because it was quite frankly none of their business. Even if they were concerned. 

Then the Ratatosk Express finally arrived and everything went to shit. Lyfrassir had never given much thought to  _ The Bifrost Incident _ . It had happened decades before they were born and was merely a phenomenon they had learned about at school. Odin’s grand train that went missing, along with the entirety of the Asgardian elite. Whilst there were many theories as to what had happened, Lyfrassir had never cared much for them. That was until it was their job to care. It was practically the definition of cold case, honestly. Yet here Lyf was going through the Black Box and experiencing an absolute whirlwind of emotions. Each theory they had was disproved almost instantaneously. They found themself indulging in the box’s story a little too much. That was until it stopped playing. The box was damaged and they had no idea how to fix it; how to find the ending. 

Tragically, they knew who could. 

Getting the black box just invoked more questions and yet another incident of confiscating Von Raum’s violin. The trio of prisoners had begun to talk about leaving, giving Lyfrassir a pointed look as they did - as if encouraging them to leave just the same. But that was absurd! What were the dangers of a cold case? Then Lyf finished listening to the Black Box and they understood. 

Leaving one final message, Lyfrassir had gathered the supplies they could before commandeering a ship and getting as far from Midgard as they could. No matter how much they hoped otherwise, they knew they were the last survivor. They were the only one to get away. 

Arriving on the Aurora granted Lyfrassir mixed emotions. Partially as Jonny had shot them point blank the second they stepped aboard. All of them were surprised when Lyf sat up  _ very much alive _ mere minutes later. It seemed being exposed to the Bifrost had some benefits. How...wonderful. Despite getting off on the worst possible foot, Lyfrassir found themself settling into life amongst the Mechanisms well enough. They were tolerable at least fifty percent of the time. They made good target practice the other fifty percent of the time. 

But they formed a friendship with the crew that blossomed into something much more. That was how Lyfrassir found themself with eight partners (Nastya was far too devoted to the Aurora to be included). Even if they did find themself with a slight preference towards Von Raum. There was something about Marius that was calming and warm in a way that the others couldn’t entirely emulate. Though, they did try and Lyfrassir loved them for it. 

Amongst the survivor’s guilt, newly discovered immortality, and helping to write an album about their trauma, Lyf had practically forgotten about their epilepsy. It was like a ‘fun fact’ shoved to the back of their mind; hidden away as a piece of trivia for another day. 

Then they had a seizure. 

The last thing Lyfrassir remembered before the seizure was a mixture of laughter. Jonny’s, Ashes’, Tim’s, and perhaps even their own? Then the world around them seemed to still. Every muscle in their body tightened. They thought perhaps someone called their name but then they knew nothing. They were entirely unconscious as their body twitched and flailed in front of their (rightfully) horrified lovers. Lyfrassir had been told before that their seizures were terrifying to watch. They could only imagine how terrible it would be if they ever remembered having one. 

There was no coherence to their thoughts as they woke up. It was like their head was full of cotton or their brain was stuck in the clouds. Nothing quite felt real. They felt light; floaty even but they also felt  _ sore _ . Every single of their muscles ached. It was a familiar feeling. It was enough for one single word to form in their mind ‘seizure’. Blinking blearily, Lyfrassir managed to open their eyes. They knew they recognised the room they were in but at the same time,  _ they didn’t _ . It was the same with the people around them. Lyf couldn’t remember their names but they knew they were safe. They knew they loved them. As such, Lyfrassir found themself latching on to the closest person before sleep claimed them once more. 

The second time they woke up, they had more coherency. There was still that brief distance from reality but they could think. They could (mostly) remember everything. Lyfrassir found themself surprisingly comfortable on a large bed with people laying beside them on all sides. It was pleasant. Lyf didn’t need to open their eyes to know where they were. Jonny claimed the reason he had such a large bed in his room was that he liked to sprawl out on it. But they knew the real reason; He hated sleeping alone so he had a bed all of them could comfortably fit on. It was soothing. As was the violin music that filled the room. 

Lyf slowly opened their eyes slightly. They didn’t even need to glance around to note all the people hugging them. They were very much familiar with how everyone felt when they wrapped their arms around Lyfrassir at this point. But one person was missing. Marius. A glance to their left would greet them to the sight of the man playing away frantically with his eyes firmly shut. “Y’know, he’s been doing this for hours. Been too uneasy to lay down.” 

The voice practically made Lyf jump out of their skin. “Hel, Jonny! You scared the shit out of me!” They didn’t notice as the music came to grinding halt. Instead, they were focused entirely on Jonny d’Ville. He was smiling but for once it wasn’t out of amusement; it was tired. 

“Yeah? Well, you scared the fuck out of us, Lyfrassir!” They winced at that. Jonny  _ never _ used their full name. He only ever called them Lyf or the latest absurd nickname he had thought up. “You...You don’t get to keep something like that from us.  _ We can’t help you if you don’t tell us these things _ .” 

A hand moved to play with their hair.  _ Tim’s _ , their brain helpfully supplied. “We...We’ve all been through hell in a million and one different ways. But we’re here for each other when we have to be, okay?” A gentle kiss was pressed to their forehead. “We want to be able to be there for you too. All of us do.” 

Lyfrassir nodded before glancing over as Marius moved to join the cuddle pile. He offered his hand and Lyf gladly took it in their own. “I thought I’d lost you after Yggdrasil...The thought of losing you again…” He squeezed his eyes shut for a few moments. “I love you too much for that.” 

A pillow was thrown at Marius’s head. “Yeah, yeah. Lyf’s an idiot, should have told us they have  _ fucking seizures _ , and we love them dearly. We’re also going to bully the shit out of them when they’re feeling better.” Ashes’s voice was muffled from where it was buried against Brian’s shoulder. Lyf might have called it ‘cute’ if they didn’t know Ashes would shoot them for it. “Now, can we all please go back to indulging in the one moment where we’re actually nice to each other? Please?” They lifted their head up slightly. “Besides, they look like they could do with a hell of a lot more sleep.” 

Lyfrassir was inclined to agree as they closed their eyes again. None of them argued with Ashes. They all knew it wasn’t worth it. Particularly as they were right. If the arms around them tightened as Jonny and Tim seemed to fight over who could hold Lyf the closest, they didn’t comment on it. Particularly as their head fell to rest on Marius’s chest. They drifted off back to sleep feeling safe, loved, and like an absolute idiot. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated or hmu @ desert-lily on tumblr!


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